5 Key Facts About the Chime Credit Builder Visa Secured Credit Card

Prospective Cardholders Must Meet the Minimum Deposit Requirement

Before you can apply for the Credit Builder¹ card, you must receive a single qualifying direct deposit of $200 or more to your Chime Checking Account. The qualifying direct deposit must be from your employer, payroll provider, gig economy payer or benefits payer by Automated Clearing House (ACH) deposit or Original Credit Transaction (OCT). Once the deposit is confirmed a Chime customer can apply for a Credit Builder secured account and receive a Visa credit card with no credit check or minimum deposit required.

One important note: Bank-to-bank ACH deposits, Pay Anyone transfers, verification or trial deposits from financial institutions, mobile check deposits, cash loads or deposits, one-time direct deposits, such as tax refunds and other similar transactions and peer-to-peer payments using apps like Venmo and Cash App don’t qualify as eligible direct deposits. So, plan accordingly if you hope to apply for this card.

Chime Doesn’t Run Credit Checks for Approval

Chime lists its mission as aiming to make financial peace of mind attainable for anyone. Chime doesn’t require a credit check to be approved and thus no minimum credit score² is required.

Chime’s Visa Secured card encourages, perhaps indirectly, applications from those with bad credit or too many recent rejections from multiple credit card applications. Several hard credit checks done in a short period of time can hurt a credit score and negatively impact borrower approval rates.

Chime Doesn’t Charge Fees for Using Credit Builder, Doesn’t Offer Rewards

Like other credit builder cards, Chime doesn’t charge annual, international, or maintenance fees. Unlike most credit cards, Chime also doesn’t charge cardholders any interest³ on purchases. This could be a huge perk for cardholders hoping to get a break from paying high interest fees.

Cardholders won’t benefit from any rewards or welcome bonuses common with other credit cards. Chime doesn’t offer benefits like cash back, points, or promotional cash deposits. If rewards or bonuses are more important than having no interest, Chime isn’t the best option.

It’s Not a Typical Secured Credit Card

Secured credit cards usually require a minimum deposit of a few hundred dollars to open an account. The deposit becomes the card’s credit limit that the cardholder uses to make purchases. Secured deposits aren’t accessible to the cardholder until the entire balance is paid off and the account is closed.

Chime is different. Cardholders don’t have to make a minimum security deposit⁴ to open an account. They can transfer money into their secured account at any time. Each transfer becomes part of the spending limit for the month. At the end of the billing cycle, the money transferred is used to cover all the purchases. Cardholders can budget and keep track of how much they spend, but it can get out of control if the cardholder frequently transfers money over to make up for large purchases.

Chime Can Help Build Credit History, but It’s Not for Everyone

Chime reports account activity to all three credit bureaus. Cardholders looking to build better credit can establish on-time payment behavior and lengthen their credit history. (Note that late payments can still negatively affect a credit score.)

Chime’s unique account design means cardholders don’t have a pre-set credit limit. The money available to spend depends on how much cardholders transfer into their Credit Builder account. Chime doesn’t report credit utilization to credit bureaus, so worrying about only spending 30% of the available credit or less won’t be a concern. This is good news for cardholders who have a habit of overspending close to a credit limit or cardholders who don’t want more cash in their Credit Builder account than they need to spend that month.

Because Chime is so unique, cardholders new to credit cards may have to re-learn how to budget credit card spending when moving on to a different card. Most credit cards have high interest rates that accrue if the balance isn’t paid off every month. Cardholders have to be mindful of credit utilization, which can have a large impact on credit scores.